Meat-containing, strip-shaped food product and method of making same

Abstract

A flexible, strip-shaped food product is made by comminuting substantially frozen meat and heating the comminuted meat to at least partially denature the meat proteins and cooling the cooked meat. About 4% by weight to about 45% by weight of wheat flour is admixed with the cooked meat, along with other ingredients, to form a dough. Use of the wheat flour unexpectedly increases tensile strength of the dough and products baked from the dough, and maintains flexibility of the strip-shaped food products over an extended period of time. Cooking of the meat in the presence of salt unexpectedly increases water activity of the pieces, resulting in a product that has a skin and a moist middle, while maintaining tensile strength. The dough is rotary-molded into strip-shaped pieces. The rotary mold may have angled die cups. The strip-shaped dough pieces are then baked and dried.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention is directed to meat-containing, strip-shaped food products and methods of making such products.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Naturally prepared jerky products are generally made with cut strips of striate muscle meat. However, the process is time consuming and the finished thickness of the jerky is established by the initial cutting of the meat.[0003]Jerky products may also be produced from a ground meat composition that is solidified to provide a loaf or sheet which can be cut into individual strips. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,421 to Morgan and U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,002 to Scaglione et al., extruders may be used to form ground beef compositions into a loaf or strip. The solidifying may be by freezing or other solidifying means such as drying, cooking, or combinations thereof with freezing.[0004]Combining raw, frozen, or chilled comminuted meats and other similar meat products with farinaceous material components to form an...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]According to the present invention, about 4% by weight to about 45% by weight of wheat flour, based upon the weight of the dough, is added to the cooked meat. The addition of wheat flour results in the formation of a gluten network, which allows for the formation of strip-shaped products with better strength and integrity. The addition of the wheat flour results in an unexpectedly flexible, strong, strip-shaped food product having reduced breakage both during formation and during packaging, thereby eliminating product waste and reducing costs.

[0012]After cooling, the dough may be formed into pieces. Formation of the pieces is preferably by sheeting the dough prior to rotary molding. The high meat content of the rotary-molded pieces increases palatability in comparison to extruded food products. The molded pieces may then be conveyed to an oven or dryer or a combination thereof for reducing the moisture content of the pieces. Salt may be added during cooking of the comminuted meat, instead of in a preblend with other dry ingredients to meat that has already been cooked, to substantially increase the water activity of the food products without substantially reducing the tensile strength of the food products. The water activity may be increased while providing enough baking time to set the product structure in which a skin is formed around a moist middle or core and while also maintaining tensile strength. The water activity of the final food product may be less than about 0.8, preferably less than about 0.75, and generally from about 0.65 to about 0.75.

Problems solved by technology

However, the process is time consuming and the finished thickness of the jerky is established by the initial cutting of the meat.

As the length of a food product increases and its width and thickness decrease, the food product becomes more susceptible to breakage.

The dough strip is lifted from a corner or end of the strip and peeled off of the die roll rather than being removed longitudinally which may cause a large bend to occur.

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